If you say told me that a company that was charging $70 per month for multivitamins would be able to raise a $10 million round, I asked to see the bill and I was really curious to see the pitch. company goods. Looks like today is my lucky day!
roots is the company and the founders were gracious enough to share their presentations with me. Let’s find out what investors saw in this startup.
The company first appeared in TechCrunch coverage as part of Techstars accelerator is back in 2018. Anthony Ha reports that the company has 1,500 paying customers in Europe and is aiming to expand to the US. Looks like it’s been a long journey that has finally been successful.
Rootine’s deck is my 30th tear — time flies! You can see the rest of them herein case today’s reading wasn’t enough for you.
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Slides in this deck
The Rootine deck consisted of 29 slides and the team told me there were no omissions or editorials – here’s what investors saw when they were pitching!
- cover
- summary slides
- Traction summary slide
- ski team
- slide “Why”
- Market context slide
- Market size and market trajectory slip
- problem slides
- solution slides
- “Community enhances member experience” — community slide
- Business model slides
- “The Precision Multivitamin”— product slide
- “Backed by numerous home lab tests”— product slides
- “Improved form factor for nutritional products”— product slides
- technology slides
- “Feedback Loop”— product slides
- “How it works” slide — track member results
- Customer Results Slide (“member”)
- Product slide
- customer drag
- Sliding traction partner
- Competitive landscape slide
- vision slip
- Product route map slide
- Revenue forecast slide
- Evolution slide to market
- advisor slides
- Slide request and use money
- Slides contact information
Three things to love
Rootine’s presentation deck is a master class; it includes everything I would expect in a deck. It went deeper into the product I wanted, but when I reviewed it, I couldn’t get much out of this deck to make it. much better. Incidentally, I also don’t have much to add. That is a great sign. Let’s take a look at some of the highlights.
A “ask” slide
With a fairly substantial margin, the “claim and use money” slide is Slides are the most frequently twisted in sales pitches, according to my experience. This one isn’t perfect, but I’m glad it’s there, as it helps lead the conversation about what happens next.
[Slide 28] Great use of sliding funds. Image credits: roots
I wish the company had included the money they’ve raised on this slide to give it a little extra context. But that’s one side; I love the clarity here. Tripled ARR and membership and launched eight new products is a great set of goals. I wish the company had included the deadline (yes, 3x ARR… but when the?), and “key staff” and “extended team” are too smooth. But most startups don’t include any of these, so they’ve done well there.
One small detail, though: 30% growth, 40% technology, 20% community, 20% activity. Oi. I like the realism that everything in startups can go over budget, and I believe in the wisdom of raising more than you think you’ll need, but I’m pretty sure most investors will prefer to use the funds for up to 100% gain. .
As a startup, the lesson here is to show that you have clarity about why you are donating money, as well as what you will gain with that money. It’s a shame to see either of these clearly outlined — and that’s really the whole purpose of a presentation. Rootine’s example above is a good starting point. Make it your own; make it good.
traction galore
Rootine has a few slippages in its deck (one that makes me unhappy, but we’ll get to that), but I love how it flexes its numbers in different ways to show off. how well the company is doing. Slide 19 introduces some really interesting traction:
[Slide 19] Divine Traction, Batman. Image credits: roots
Objectively, the 18x increase in two years is very strong. Not having numbers on the axes is a bit cheating (why‽), but the trend is clear, so that’s encouraging. However, the slide that I really want to congratulate Rootine on is the “summary” slide much earlier in the deck. Slide 2:
[Slide 3] Start the story with a summary of the figures. Image credits: roots
I’m a big fan of the good number business slide. I’m a bit confused by the inconsistency. TechCrunch report that the company had about 1,500 customers in 2018, so “launching” in 2019 seems odd. It is also risky to display projected numbers as part of a slide; having two colors (blue for the “real” number and perhaps gray for the expected number) can give a more realistic feel.
I would also like to see more details about the numbers behind the numbers. Acquisition costs, profits, and all the numbers that drive the business. Especially at Series A, where a company is clearly set to grow, it would be nice to have more detailed analyzes of how the various key metrics have evolved over time.
How has customer acquisition cost (CAC) evolved over time? How have the initial spend per customer and assumed lifetime value per customer changed? What about cost of goods sold (COGS), etc.? As an investor, this is where I will spend a lot of my due diligence, so it makes sense to include most – if not all – of that as part of my presentation. submit. If you are positioning yourself as ready to grow, show that the numbers support it!
As a startup, consider how you can use the numbers that drive your company to tell the story, both of what you’ve done and what you’re about to do. If you have meaningful numbers that really show your company’s growth — use them to mark that point. What you are doing is difficult; brag, brag, brag!
The road to 1 billion USD
[Slide 25] That is a bold statement. Image credits: roots
The whole purpose of a startup is to scale extremely fast. The Rootine exponential curve showing in this curve looks impressive, and I’m not surprised that investors are getting excited. I also doubt investors will ask how at this time. I think claiming to be a $1 billion business in six years is bold and exciting. But you’d best show up with a receipt.
I alluded to that above; I want to see the numbers driving this aggressive curve. Doubts aside; if you’re playing the VC game and you’re raising growth capital, this is exactly the kind of claim you need to be able to make, backed with confidence and numbers to back it up.
In the rest of this detailed analysis, we’ll look at three things Rootine could have improved or done differently, along with its full presentation!
